GUEST COLUMN: Focus should be on mental health in wake of Newtown

By Richard T. Crow

Published: Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 8:45 p.m.

The events that occurred in Newtown, Conn., are appalling and troublesome. As President Barack Obama mentioned in his address to the members of the Newtown community, this was the fourth time that he visited a town or city where mass shootings occurred during his presidency.

The Newtown rampage involved so many very young, innocent children who had their lives ahead of them and had done nothing wrong. They just went to school on that horrific day. As commentators, politicians, family members and others reflect on the inexplicable behavior of a person who, obviously, had been living with serious mental problems, the focus will be on strengthening gun control laws. Indeed, there is much that needs to be done in this area. However, as most anyone will agree, if someone is bent on doing harm, no law will prevent them from succeeding.

In my judgment, we should focus on strengthening our mental health services and programs. It is certainly alarming that throughout the country, states have reduced funding for mental health programs by more than $2 billion. Here in Alabama, the state facility for the intellectually challenged has been closed and the hospital that is being built for the mentally ill will have fewer than 300 beds. To the best of my understanding, there are no beds for children or adolescents.

Placing people with severe mental health problems out in the community where there are limited resources increases the likelihood that more people will die. Putting individuals with serious mental health issues in group homes, nursing homes or on the street will skew the balance of wrong over right in our society.

As I have read some of the accounts of the person responsible for taking so many lives in Newtown, it becomes apparent that there were multiple signs that begged for professional attention. It was noted that the school counselor saw Adam Lanza. I do not mean to demean the role of school counselors but they are, typically, not trained to deal with individuals with severe mental health problems.

When the Community Mental Health Act was passed in the 1960s, it was a noble endeavor to reduce the large number of patients in mental health facilities throughout the country. I would agree that if a person can be treated outside of an institutional setting, that is preferable. Yet that decision cannot come at the expense of public safety.

The requisite funding to implement the provisions of the act were never forthcoming. Similarly, it is too evident that decisions around mental health are being reached based on cost, not what is best for the patient and the community. Society can spew forth rationalizations, but that will not be acceptable to those who are affected by the behaviors that place them and those they love and care about in harm’s way. It will be interesting to see what the politicians at the federal and state levels do once the memory of the Newtown killings becomes more distant and fades into the recesses of their collective memories.

We need to be diligently working with school systems and parent groups to identify young people who are displaying problematic behavior. If necessary, we may need to use the resources of the judicial system to require parents to get help. There is precedent for holding parents and guardians responsible for the actions of their children. Judges in juvenile and family courts have ordered families to seek professional help in matters dealing with their children. This might well be an approach that begins to address the problems that some young people are experiencing.

It has been reported that Nancy Lanza had reached an impass with her son and did not know what to do. Did she seek professional help? Did she participate in any therapeutic sessions focusing on her son’s problems? Why did she take her son out of school and home school him? Did the school identify problems that went unattended? Students and faculty have reported behavior that should have raised some flags and triggered responses. Would what happened in Newtown not have happened if Adam Lanza had gotten the help he so desperately needed? Maybe not, and herein is the dilemma.

Dealing with the human mind and the behaviors of humans is not an exact science, but therapeutic interventions can and do work. We should focus on and commit to bolstering these resources throughout our country following this terrible tragedy.

Richard T. Crow, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama School of Social Work.

<p>The events that occurred in Newtown, Conn., are appalling and troublesome. As President Barack Obama mentioned in his address to the members of the Newtown community, this was the fourth time that he visited a town or city where mass shootings occurred during his presidency.</p><p>The Newtown rampage involved so many very young, innocent children who had their lives ahead of them and had done nothing wrong. They just went to school on that horrific day. As commentators, politicians, family members and others reflect on the inexplicable behavior of a person who, obviously, had been living with serious mental problems, the focus will be on strengthening gun control laws. Indeed, there is much that needs to be done in this area. However, as most anyone will agree, if someone is bent on doing harm, no law will prevent them from succeeding. </p><p>In my judgment, we should focus on strengthening our mental health services and programs. It is certainly alarming that throughout the country, states have reduced funding for mental health programs by more than $2 billion. Here in Alabama, the state facility for the intellectually challenged has been closed and the hospital that is being built for the mentally ill will have fewer than 300 beds. To the best of my understanding, there are no beds for children or adolescents.</p><p>Placing people with severe mental health problems out in the community where there are limited resources increases the likelihood that more people will die. Putting individuals with serious mental health issues in group homes, nursing homes or on the street will skew the balance of wrong over right in our society.</p><p>As I have read some of the accounts of the person responsible for taking so many lives in Newtown, it becomes apparent that there were multiple signs that begged for professional attention. It was noted that the school counselor saw Adam Lanza. I do not mean to demean the role of school counselors but they are, typically, not trained to deal with individuals with severe mental health problems.</p><p>When the Community Mental Health Act was passed in the 1960s, it was a noble endeavor to reduce the large number of patients in mental health facilities throughout the country. I would agree that if a person can be treated outside of an institutional setting, that is preferable. Yet that decision cannot come at the expense of public safety.</p><p>The requisite funding to implement the provisions of the act were never forthcoming. Similarly, it is too evident that decisions around mental health are being reached based on cost, not what is best for the patient and the community. Society can spew forth rationalizations, but that will not be acceptable to those who are affected by the behaviors that place them and those they love and care about in harm's way. It will be interesting to see what the politicians at the federal and state levels do once the memory of the Newtown killings becomes more distant and fades into the recesses of their collective memories.</p><p>We need to be diligently working with school systems and parent groups to identify young people who are displaying problematic behavior. If necessary, we may need to use the resources of the judicial system to require parents to get help. There is precedent for holding parents and guardians responsible for the actions of their children. Judges in juvenile and family courts have ordered families to seek professional help in matters dealing with their children. This might well be an approach that begins to address the problems that some young people are experiencing. </p><p>It has been reported that Nancy Lanza had reached an impass with her son and did not know what to do. Did she seek professional help? Did she participate in any therapeutic sessions focusing on her son's problems? Why did she take her son out of school and home school him? Did the school identify problems that went unattended? Students and faculty have reported behavior that should have raised some flags and triggered responses. Would what happened in Newtown not have happened if Adam Lanza had gotten the help he so desperately needed? Maybe not, and herein is the dilemma.</p><p>Dealing with the human mind and the behaviors of humans is not an exact science, but therapeutic interventions can and do work. We should focus on and commit to bolstering these resources throughout our country following this terrible tragedy.</p><p>Richard T. Crow, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama School of Social Work.</p>